MOBILE HEART MONITOR A LIFESAVER ON FLIGHT

Prominent San Diego cardiologist Eric Topol gave a major address in New Orleans on Tuesday extolling the use of a small, portable device for examining people suffering heart distress. Three hours later, he used the device to determine that a woman on a commercial airline flight was experiencing an abnormal heart rhythm.

It was the second time in two years that Topol — one of the nation’s leading advocates of wireless mobile medical equipment — had used such a device to diagnose a patient on a commercial aircraft.

“I’m starting to think that these devices would be well-suited for being carried on planes,” said Topol, chief academic officer at Scripps Health.

The latest incident occurred shortly after noon on Tuesday, while Topol was flying from New Orleans to Houston to grab a connecting flight to San Diego. About 15 minutes into the flight, two attendants moved through the cabin, asking if there was a doctor on board who could assist a passenger who was nauseated and seemed to be experiencing an irregular heart rate. Topol was sitting a few rows ahead of the woman and responded by taking an AliveCor heart monitor out of his bag and using it to diagnose her condition. The wireless device attaches to an iPhone and enables the user to call up data.

“It was unequivocal that she had atrial fibrillation,” Topol told U-T San Diego.

Topol stabilized the patient and the plane was able to land without further incident about 90 minutes later.

Tuesday’s drama at 30,000 feet comes 17 months after Topol used a device on a flight to determine a man was experiencing a heart attack. The pilot made an emergency landing so that the man could receive emergency treatment.

“I guess this is really a sign-of-the-times about how useful these mobile medical devices can be,” Topol said by phone Tuesday night.